Global PVC Market to Boost Steadily in Upcoming Years, Forecast Ceresana Research

Ceresana Research expects the global PVC market to reach revenues of more than US$65 billion in 2019. Now that the global recession has ended, the construction industry will again boost demand for PVC. The average annual growth rate of 3.3% seen in the past eight years is likely to be surpassed in future. Ceresana Research forecasts PVC demand to increase at an average annual rate of 3.9% over the next years.

With a roughly 53% share of global consumption, Asia-Pacific is the largest PVC outlet, followed by North America and Western Europe. Shares in demand of the individual world regions will shift significantly over the next eight years. The analysts from Ceresana forecast countries in Asia-Pacific to increase their shares in the global PVC market — mainly at the expense of industrial countries. In contrast, emerging and developing countries will benefit from an increasing per-capita consumption of plastic products. In addition, the construction industry is boosting in these countries, where many PVC products are used in civil and structural engineering.

Changes in regional demand will also have an effect on the production structure of manufacturers. The global PVC capacity of approximately 50 million tones is anticipated to be expanded by 13 million tons by 2019. Almost 80% of these new capacities will be built in the Asia-Pacific region.

The most comprehensive report worldwide analyzes how PVC use will develop in individual markets. Most important buyers include manufacturers of pipes and con-duits; they accounted for 39% of global PVC demand in 2011. PVC plastic profiles accounted for just less than 20%. Films and sheets had an 18% share. Cables and cable sheathing made up 7% of global PVC demand in 2011. Flooring had a 4% share during that year. Other industrial applications, such as coatings for the automotive industry, medical products like infusion bags as well as shoes, accounted for approximately 13% of worldwide demand.

All application areas will see similar development in demand over the upcoming eight years. As a result, shares of the individual application areas will hardly shift by 2019. Pipes and conduits will see the smallest increase in demand of 3.7% per year. However, this sector will remain the largest PVC market by 2019.